Is There a Role for Supplemental Donor Milk for Premature Infants?

Neurodevelopmental outcomes, morbidity, and mortality at 18 months were similar in very-low-birth-weight infants fed donor milk or formula as a supplement to their mother's milk.

Very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants have lower morbidity and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes when fed their mother's milk compared to a preterm infant formula. When a mother of a VLBW preterm infant cannot provide enough of her own milk, supplemental human donor milk is available in some communities. Currently, there are 22 donor-milk banks in the U.S.

To assess whether supplemental donor milk improves outcomes, researchers randomized 363 VLBW infants in four neonatal units in Canada to be fed nutrient-enriched donor milk or a preterm formula when their mother's milk was not available. Mean birth weight was 996 g and mean gestational age was 27.7 weeks. More than one quarter of babies in both groups were exclusively fed maternal milk, …

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics